The Hub and the Pavilion
HUGH SULLIVAN
The distance between Sidley Recreation Ground and the De La Warr Pavilion (DLWP) on Bexhill seafront is around a mile and a half. Historically and culturally, it has seemed a lot further.
BMX Track at Sidley Rec
The two sites are divided by a busy trunk road and poorly linked by public transport. The former has provided a basic leisure space for the most economically deprived part of the local population, though recently enhanced by a state-of-the-art BMX racing track and skatepark; the latter is a Grade I Listed Art Deco venue attracting national and international tourists to admire its architecture and enjoy its wide-ranging programmes of arts, theatre and music.
Nevertheless, the DLWP management and Sidley community group Heart of Sidley (HoS) have joined enthusiastically in an initiative promoted by Rother District Council to link the two sites in one joint bid for levelling up funds. Application for an award totalling over £19m was submitted in 2022 to the Department of Levelling Up (DLUHC), and was approved in January 2023.
Of this sum, over £17m is destined for the redevelopment of the DLWP; £2.1m, together with further matched funds of up to £0.5m from a number of sources, will be used to build a new Community Hub on the footprint of the current dilapidated toilet block at Sidley Rec and to upgrade outdoor facilities there. Both sides say they aim to make a sea-change in the relationship between the Pavilion and the Sidley community for the latter’s benefit.
BIG LOCAL
HoS has been operating a community partnership of local residents and businesses under a Big Local funding plan (an equivalent scheme to the one running in North East Hastings) that has received £1m support over ten years from the National Lottery Community Fund. The plan and its funding will cease in March 2025, but the intention is that it will then be superseded by a charity HOSCA – Heart of Sidley Community Association – which will manage the new Hub as the focal point for community life in the area.
Tanya Vice, Project Officer for HoS, says that there is already a good working partnership with the DLWP over a wide range of projects, including support for the community at both annual summer and winter events, and for holiday activities and food clubs. “Once the Hub is up and running, we hope to work together even more, bringing larger events and activities to Sidley in partnership with the DLWP,” she says. The symbiosis should also bring reverse benefits, offering increased access to events, community workshops and training opportunities at the Pavilion for Sidley residents.
As well as providing upgraded changing room facilities and accessible toilets, the new Hub building at the Rec is intended to offer a “sustainable community space” for local usage, including facilities for hosting workshop and training sessions and a cafe. Outside, the original idea of installing a 3G pitch to add to the BMX racetrack has been ruled out after substantial site surveys and community consultation, but improvements will be made to the existing grass pitch.
The architects for the Hub are Baker Architectural, a practice with offices in Hastings and Brighton – “as local as you can get,” Ms Vice says. “We call them the Fabulous Baker Boys. They have lived experience in the community, their passion for wanting to make a difference at the site really comes across.”
They have been working closely with Rother District Council. HoS are hopeful that they can push the necessary planning application through so as to be building on site before the end of this year with completion of the Hub achievable before the end of 2025.
In the meantime, the DLWP have recently announced their own architects for their £17m redevelopment: Haworth Tompkins, whose website shows off designs for theatres at Harvard University and in Malmo, Sweden as well as the Liverpool Everyman, the Theatre Royal at Drury Lane and other prestigious venues.
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